Just A Crush To Pass thə T I M E
by Dark x Rose13
Summary: It IS possible for a guy and a girl to be "just friends." But at some point in time, they will fall for each other... maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . or maybe f o r e v e r. Namora. AU.
1. Sudden Emotional Overdose

WELL now lookie here. Dark Rose has an update...but probably not what you were expecting. I know, I know, I have another story. But, this one just came to me, and it wouldn't go away. Every time I tried to make headway with the newest chapter of TPWTC, this stupid idea kept invading my head. It just wouldn't leave me alone! So, I wrote down a first chapter, pretty quickly actually.

And, for those of you wondering where the hell I've been for the past few months, I'll let you know now:

...wait. This isn't the place for me to tell you what I've been up to. I'll just put that on my profile. Duh. SO if you're all that curious to know what I've been doing (because _yes_ I actually have been doing things that pertain to story-writing), just look at my profile. 'Nuff said there...

ANYWAY, well. Yeah. This story...just sort of came to me. And since it wouldn't leave my head alone until I wrote it down, I figured that since you guys have (regretfully) not had an update from me in a while, I'll post the first chapter. It's definitely a change of pace from my other story. But you **have** to let me know what you think about it, please. I have no idea when I'll get back to this story. Who knows? Maybe I'll even write both of my stories at the same time. But, it'll be nice if I get some feedback from you guys because... well, you know, you're the one reading it!

It's going to be totally AU, with a much _simpler_ plot line than my other story. Third person; I'm trying out omnipotent. Everyone in this story looks how they look in Kingdom Hearts 2 so Naminé, Sora, Kairi, etc are all about 15. The pairing is Namora/Sominé/whatever you prefer to call it. Fun fact: the number of words without any of my Author's Notes is 5,941. Damn, that must mean I talk like a lot... really sorry about that.

Well, I guess I've said all that I want to say. Please let me know what you think, and... enjoy.

Summary: It IS possible for a guy and a girl to be "just friends." But at some point in time, they will fall for each other...maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late . . . .

. . . . . . . . . or maybe f o r e v e r.

* * *

**Chapter One: Sudden Emotional Overdose  
**

There's just something about summer vacation.

Maybe it's the way it looks: unbelievably blue skies, open and cloudless, letting the sun shine its brightness on everyone. Umbrellas, swimsuits, and colorful flip-flops. Whatever the sight is, summer just _looks_ happy.

Maybe it's the way it sounds: no matter where you go, the sounds of summer follow you. Whether it's the sound of water coming from a sprinker, or the sound of someone biting into a ripe watermelon, or the sound of waves on the ocean. Summer just _sounds_ happy.

However, in the midst of this wonderful summer, there's one particular girl on Destiny Islands who doesn't _look_ or _sound_ happy at all.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

Naminé huffs in annoyance for what seems to be the millionth time today, glancing once more at the clock that never moves fast enough for her liking. Five more hours to go, and she can finally get out of this place.

Tapping her fingers on the counter, the flaxen haired girl inwardly groans as she sees yet _another_ person approaching her window. Plastering on a ridiculously feigned smile, she greets the new customer.

"Welcome to Typhoon Treats, how may I help you?" she manages to sound not too annoyed this time. Even so, saying those nine repetitive words is slowly but surely driving her insane.

At least the customer is nice. Without much of a hassle, the blonde gets his order to him while Hayner rings it up. She's left with her thoughts once again.

Yes, in case it isn't painfully obvious already, Naminé has a part-time job at a foods department. She works at one of the many food stands at Destiny Islands Amusement Park, the most popular attraction on Destiny Islands.

It's alright… for a job. The only downside to it is that it takes up most of her time now that it's summer vacation. She's just moved to Destiny Islands at the start of summer vacation. After she got settled in, her parents suggested that she'd get a job, so she can make new friends before the new school year starts. Naminé figured it wasn't a bad idea…

But now, she's realizing that it's probably one of the _worst_ decisions she's ever made.

Think about it: when PO'd moms come to complain about an undercooked chicken wing, they complain to _her_. Or when the line is literally never ending, and the customer that's waited the whole time decides to take out their frustration, they take it out on _her_.

And she can't do the same to them; she can't possibly offend the customer. The customer's always right, even when they really aren't.

Needless to say, that logic kind of makes her want to scream.

But, she's trying to look on the bright side: she gets in for free, and she gets to eat whatever's left over after the park is closed. The quiet girl has also managed to make friends here; she works with them and sees them almost every day. Not to mention, she can always use some money. So, it's not too bad.

The girl looks around, sighing sadly. Unfortunately, she's not scheduled with her newest, closest friend, Olette, for today. Nope, today she's stuck with Axel, Hayner, and Pence. She gets along fine with all of them, but she's only really gotten close to Olette.

Also, because fate loves her so much, she's also scheduled with the biggest shrew of a supervisor: Larxene. She despises Larxene, who is cunning, intimidating, and not afraid to abuse her power.

"Naminé!" she hears someone scream her name.

"Yes?" she squeaks, turning around to face light jade eyes glaring in her general direction.

"Stop slacking off and do something! You're not being paid to just stand around!" Larxene sneers.

The smaller blonde looks around to see what everyone else is doing. Axel is leaning against the wall, playing with a lighter. Pence is listening to music next to his register. Hayner is _sleeping _on his register. It's obvious that Larxene is singling poor Naminé out, but she's used to it by now.

"Alright," Naminé obeys quietly. She heads over to the broom, deciding to sweep the floor.

Honestly, she would love nothing more right now than to cheerfully smash Larxene's head in with a bat of some sort, but she can't. Larxene's her _supervisor_. Naminé knows her place, and although she may not like it, she has to listen to her conniving leader. Not to mention, Larxene towers over the poor girl like a fortress, and Naminé can't help but feel a little scared and intimidated whenever she's with her.

The phone rings as Naminé begins sweeping the floor. Larxene grumbles while walking to the phone, but then talks in a feigned pleasant voice when she answers it.

"It's Larxene. What do you need?" There's a pause, "A transfer?" her eyes dart over to Naminé for a split second before she examines her nails. "Yeah, we do, but…" she's starting to get impatient, but professionally keeps it from her voice

As for Naminé, well, she's sweeping the floor, beaming in excitement from what may happen. From what she can understand, some other food stand has just called, and they need more people. Since Larxene doesn't really need Naminé to be there, Naminé may be able to leave this horrible food stand for the day, meet some new people.

Maybe even make a new friend.

"Okay, I'll send someone over…" Larxene complies reluctantly, still keeping her voice sickeningly sweet. "Bye! Have a good day!" She hangs up, grumbling once more.

"Naminé…"

"Yes?" Naminé's trying very hard to keep the excitement out of her voice. She doesn't want to hope, in case she's hoping for something that may not happen.

"Head on over to Paopu Paradise. They need more people there…" Larxene makes the bitterness in her voice very clear. Larxene would love nothing more than to keep Naminé around, just so she can keep torturing her. But orders are orders, and if Larxene wants to keep her job, she has to obey them. "Looks like today's your lucky day…"

"Okay!" the excited blonde doesn't hesitate to throw the broom in the corner, and make her way to the door, but not before asking:

"Why _is_ today my lucky day?" Naminé can't help herself; she _wants _Larxene to admit the fact that she can't mock her for the rest of the day.

"Uhhh…are you stupid? Don't you know who the Head Supervisor at Paopu Paradise is?" Larxene hisses the question.

"No…" the smaller blonde shakes her head, now honestly curious.

"Wow! Slow much? Sora Matthews! You know, the guy _everyone's_ talking about?" Even with her apparent annoyance towards the unfortunate Naminé, she can't help but hit a lighter note when she talks about a boy.

"Oh…" Naminé states indifferently, "Well…bye!" and before Larxene can say anything else, the girl with blue eyes darts out the door. Destination: Paopu Paradise.

Sora Matthews… she _has _heard of him. Apparently, he's some hotshot, gorgeous looking guy that everyone loves. It's only his first year here, and he's already gotten promoted to Head Supervisor. So, with the combination of looks, popularity, and power, he gets pretty much whatever he wants, whenever he wants. That's probably why Larxene let him have a transfer, even though she obviously didn't want to.

Naminé bites her lip. What if he's more of a power-abuser than Larxene? She doesn't think she'll be able to handle it, much less take orders from him. Naminé's heard countless girls swoon over him because of his looks and how "nice" he his, but she's never actually _seen_ or _talked _to him. Maybe he isn't nice at all, and girls just think he is because of his looks. Maybe he's some arrogant jerk that only cares about himself…

The flaxen-haired girl spots Paopu Paradise. It's a small food stand that sells all kinds of different fruit smoothies and ice cream, including the Paopu fruit, which is where the place obviously got its name from. It's located on the far side of the park, sort of secluded from everything else. So, it's not very busy.

But wait…if it's not busy, then why do they need extra people? Something's not right…

Pondering this, the slightly confused Naminé approaches the food stand. She sees no lines, no people occupying the tables, nothing. It's eerily quiet; even the music that plays throughout the park seems to avoid the place.

Taking a deep breath, Naminé opens the "Employees Only" door and finds herself in an air-conditioned place that smells wonderfully of different kinds of fruit. Everything is clean and meticulously in order, not a thing out of place.

So, why is she here if everything's manageable already? It doesn't make sense…

"Hello?" the blonde calls out uncertainly, walking around the small food stand to look for this Sora Matthews. He's not anywhere to be found in the kitchen area, so she makes her way to the back room, hoping to find him there.

She does.

He's lying on top of the freezer, _sleeping_.

Naminé scoffs, muttering to herself, "Wow, what a lazy…did he call me here just so he can sleep and leave me to do all the work? I don't think so…"

She gently shakes him, trying to wake him up. He mumbles incoherently, slowly turning around, giving her a full view of his face. She stops for a moment, slightly stunned at how true all of those rumors seem to be.

…But that's not going to change anything. He has a job to do.

"Wake up!" she says urgently, shaking him harder. He grumbles, opening his eyes to confront whoever's rudely disturbing his sleep.

Their eyes meet in that moment.

Naminé first notices how friendly he looks; he has a kind face that contains some boyish charm. Naminé then notices that his brown hair is in an adorable array of odd spiky sections. Naminé also notices that the most stunning feature of his is—without a doubt—his eyes. One look at them, and she can't help but think of the sky, or sapphires, or anything else that happens to be incredibly—aesthetically—blue.

Sora, on the other hand, is a little baffled. He sees exquisite crystal cerulean eyes set in the middle of a gentle porcelain face. He sees bright golden hair, curling gracefully over a shoulder. He sees the overhead light shining behind her, and she looks like an angel. He's about to ask if she is, but reality comes back to him in the next instant.

"Oh!" he yells out, abruptly sitting up. "Sorry…" he mutters an apology, running a hand through his hair and then scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. He jumps off the freezer and looks down at the mystery girl, an apologetic look still on his face.

"It's fine," she responds promptly, giving him a small smile. He chuckles nervously.

There's an awkward pause before he finally says, "So… ummm… who are you?" he tilts his head, causing a few of his chocolate spiky strands to fall in front of his (Naminé admits) gorgeous face.

Before she can answer, he notices her name-tag and answers his own question, "Naminé…." he looks up, as if recalling a wonderful memory. "Naminé, huh? It's beautiful."

Looking back down to the girl, he asks, "So, Naminé, why are you here?" and resumes to tilting his head to the side once again.

The girl in question snickers awkwardly at his strange reaction to her name, "Umm…you called Typhoon Treats for a transfer… right?" She bites her lip anxiously, worried that he actually hasn't. That's _just_ like Larxene, to send her to the "amazing" Sora Matthews and the place he works at, just to embarrass her.

Thankfully, his eyes widen with recognition. "Oh, right! I did!" He chuckles at his own forgetfulness, looking down at his shoes, "Well, thanks for showing up! I'm sure we'll get along great."

Then he looks up and smiles.

Now more than ever, Naminé notices that she's never seen a smile quite like his before. It's friendly, sincere, and makes every inch of his face light up, bringing a strange sense of excitement to her heart.

She returns his smile hesitantly, swiftly glancing around to see if there are any customers. There aren't, so she turns her attention back to Sora. It takes her a moment to remember what they've been talking about.

"No problem, but… do you really need help? It seems as though you can manage this place by yourself…"

Sora lets out a hearty laugh, shaking his head slightly, "Of course I can; why do you think I was sleeping? Hardly anyone comes here, you know. It's such a tiny food stand…"

"But... Larxene said you really needed help, and that's why I got transferred…" The blonde furrows her eyebrows, perplexed.

"I know. I made it up!" He grins cheekily, swinging both of his hands up behind his head.

"Why?" she asks finally, still more confused than ever. Now it's _her_ turn to tilt her head to the side.

He rolls his eyes at her playfully, "Because, I hate being by myself! It's so _boring! _…So, I pretended I needed help so I could get some company!" He's waving his hands around ridiculously, smiling all the while.

Naminé can't make sense of him. His strange, over-excited rant is making her dizzy. She just doesn't understand him. One minute, he's shy; the next, he's all frantic and smiley. This shocks her; she's normally able to make _some_ sense of everything. She laughs awkwardly and hastily makes her way out of the back room, trying to avoid the strange boy.

"What's so funny?" she hears him ask loudly, following her out of the back room.

"N-nothing!" Naminé immediately replies. Even though he_ is_ very friendly to her, she's still extremely shy and not much of a talker. In addition, he _really_ confuses her and makes her feel nervous, even though she's only met him five minutes ago.

Needless to say…she kind of wants to avoid him.

But Sora doesn't seem to care. "Doesn't sound like nothing!"

No answer. She doesn't even look at him. Meanwhile, her heart slightly increases its rhythm.

This shocks her, too. Her heart hasn't ever really pounded for someone like this before. But why for him?

Sora stops pursuing her, slightly hurt by her lack of response. Has he done something wrong? No…he hasn't done anything, so why does he feel so horrible? It doesn't make any sense; she's just met him and already she's becoming detached.

Sora's always been charismatic, someone that gets along with _everyone_, so this brush-off from Naminé is new to him.

Then he thinks of something.

"Naminé…is there something bothering you?"

The blonde gasps softly and lowers her head, reacting to the question.

Bingo.

Instinctively, he rushes over to her in his attempts to comfort her and cheer her up. He can't stand seeing someone looking so distant and…alone.

"Wanna talk about it? I'm a good listener!" he smiles at her, trying to get her to open up.

"_Um, no actually, I do _not_ want to talk about it, especially not with someone I hardly know."_ Naminé is internally glaring at the boy. _He's_ the one that's bothering her. Her face is hot, her cheeks are burning, her heart is pounding, and it's _all_ his fault.

Why won't he leave her alone? That's all she wants.

"Aww, don't be like that. You know you'll have to talk to me eventually, so it may as well be now. No time like the present, right?" Another cheesy grin from yours truly. It still doesn't get her to talk; she just looks up at him, silently pleading for him to leave.

The brunette pouts, "I just want to know what's wrong…" saying it more to himself than to her. He scratches the side of his head in thought, still confused as to why she's being so aloof.

Naminé's facial expression softens; she kind of feels bad. He really _does_ seem to care…a lot, which is strange. She's not used to someone caring about her so quickly.

He doesn't seem so bad. Maybe she _should_ tell him…

Sora tries a new method. "Would it help if I wore a paper bag over my head?"

No response. Internally, she's actually smiling, but she won't let him know that he's getting to her.

"I can draw a smiley face on it, too!"

She cracks a smile, raising an eyebrow. Is he serious?

He looks at her with determination, smiling mischievously. "How about if I tickle you instead?"

That's more effective.

"Ack! No! Don't!" She automatically coils away from him, her dislike of tickling overcoming her dislike of her sudden emotional overdose.

He laughs, advancing on her. "Actually…I think that will help a lot! It's already got you talking, and I haven't even done anything yet!"

She gives in. "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!" Since he's _dying_ to know and everything. Why is he so persistent about this anyhow?

"Good." He stares at her patiently, waiting for her to explain.

She deliberates for a few seconds, trying to figure out exactly how to say it without sounding like it's his fault.

Well…it _is_ his fault, but he's definitely not_ trying _to make her so anxious. He's completely oblivious to what he's doing to her. She just can't make any sense of it, is all. She doesn't want to bother him when it's really nothing he can control. Not to mention, he's one of the nicest people she's ever met. If Naminé hurts his feelings, she'll feel awful.

Finally, she decides on something simple, "I-it's…it's you."

There's a pause before Sora realizes what she's getting at.

"It's…me? _I'm_ the one bothering you?" he's confused and slightly hurt, and it shows in his voice.

She looks up at him in a rush, "N-no! P-please, don't take it like that. W-what I mean is...is y-you're just so…" she trails off. What _does_ she think of him, exactly?

"I'm so what?" he drones, pouting slightly. He's upset that he's already made such a negative impression on her.

But, why should he feel upset? She's just a girl…someone he doesn't even know…

"Tell me," he demands softly, his eyes pleading. He has to know.

"Well... you're strange," she admits bluntly, finally. An unforced, genuine smile is making its way across her face, though she can't quite understand why.

"…And that bothers you?"

"N-no! Please understand! I-I've just never met someone like you before. I like you! Really, I do! You're just confusing me a little, is all…" Her face is the color of a strawberry. Why does she sound so stupid? What's making this so difficult?

"Oh, is that all?"

She gives him a meek nod. Immediately relieved, Sora can't help but notice how cute she looks when she's all flustered and embarrassed.

"Well, if that's the case, then… you're pretty," he chuckles at his fake retaliation, sending her a cheeky smile. He surprises himself; he normally doesn't have this much confidence when it comes to talking to girls, but those words have flown out effortlessly.

Heat scatters across her cheeks. He's making her feel nervous again, and she _still_ doesn't like it. Her smile falters and he frowns slightly in response, sort of sad to see her smile go.

The sudden silence makes him aware of how uncomfortable he has made her… and himself. Thinking about her reply, he's getting a tad bit self-conscious. He's strange, huh? How is he supposed to feel about that? Not to mention, she's making _him_ feel nervous, and he doesn't like it, either.

It's really silly how just a few words can make things so… awkward.

She's about to stutter a reply to his compliment when…

"Hello?" a customer breaks them out of their hypnotic state. They snap their attention to the window, immediately getting back to the rhythm of their job.

The customer orders a paopu smoothie. Sora rings up his order, and Naminé makes the smoothie, giving it to the customer.

"Have a nice day!" Naminé smiles politely as the customer leaves. Sora takes a moment to admire her smile once again, a goofy grin absentmindedly forming on his lips. She turns to face him and furrows her eyebrows, silently questioning his actions. He shakes his head and looks away for a few seconds, embarrassed that she's caught him looking.

A few moments of awkward silence, and then…

"Everyone always orders the paopu smoothie," Sora states, desperate to make conversation.

"Why's that?" Naminé quirks an eyebrow, as eager to get away from the uncomfortable silence as Sora is.

Sora thinks for a second. "Well, it tastes really good; better than mangoes!" He casts a sideways glance to her, smiling at his comparison. "And the legend's always nice to think about, I guess."

"What legend?"

"You've never heard of the legend before?" He's slightly surprised. Supposedly everyone had heard of the fruit's story.

Naminé shakes her head. "I moved here a few weeks ago, so I don't know as much about this place as everyone else does."

Sora nods. "Ohhh, okay. Well…the legend is that if two people share one, then their destinies will be intertwined forever. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what…" for some reason unknown to him, he suddenly feels a bit nervous telling the girl the story.

Nervous again? What's going on with him?

"Hmmm… that's sort of sweet." Naminé smiles, glancing upwards. Sora chuckles slightly.

"What's so funny?" Naminé asks matter-of-factly.

Sora shakes his head in amusement. "I was just thinking about my friend, Selphie. She thinks it's the most romantic thing ever and wants it to happen to her _so_ badly."

He's saying this, once again, with the wild, exaggerated hand gestures. Naminé laughs inwardly, wondering if he even realizes that he does it all the time.

"Well, it _is_ romantic…in a way. I mean, if you're sharing it with someone, they probably mean a lot to you. And because they do, you want to be with them as much as possible… right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense." Sora shrugs, looking down at his feet.

"Have _you_ ever shared a paopu with anyone, Sora?" the blonde teases. Immediately, she feels her face heat up again, and she can't help but feel confused. Why should she feel embarrassed? She just asked him a question…

Sora's head snaps up. A few seconds pass before he replies.

"Uhh….nope," he chuckles softly while rubbing the back of his head.

Naminé's expression softens at his shyness. Her heartbeat increases, startling her again. Trying to sound as calm as possible, she replies.

"Oh…"

Another awkward silence…

Both parties shift their gaze elsewhere, before the silence is once again broken by Sora.

"But, I think I will…someday."

Surprising himself, he dares to look into her exquisite eyes again. Her angelic face makes his mind go blank and his breath catch in his throat. He feels his stomach doing nervous somersaults.

Or maybe…they're excited somersaults. He can't tell the difference. But whichever they are, he kind of likes the feeling.

He opens his mouth to speak, but can't. What's making this so hard? Why is it so hard to say what he wants to say around her? Sora's panicking, trying to figure the mystery out.

Then she smiles at him.

Her smile gives him a great feeling. He feels warm on the inside, like he's melting. He returns her smile and notes the pinkish hue of her face as a response. The fact that she's as insecure as he is gives him enough confidence to finally formulate a sentence.

"I guess it's like what you said. I want to share it with someone very important to me…" Sora looks down, not out of nervousness, but out of habit. He always looks down when he's in deep thought, unconsciously placing a hand over his heart and smiling peacefully.

Naminé smiles at him. "Of course. Her heart is still hammering away. The thought of her sharing the fruit with Sora crosses her mind, making her face heat up even more so.

"_Urghh...no! Why am I letting him get to me like this?"_ she thinks, getting annoyed with herself and her emotions_. "He's a good-looking boy, so what? He's no different from any other boy who's been blessed with good genes. No different at all."_

"So, tell me about yourself, Sora," Naminé states out of the blue, as if his answer will prove the fact that there's nothing extraordinary about the boy before her.

Who knows? Maybe if she finds out more about him, she'll even find herself _dis_liking him.

The boy in question smiles at her and launches into an animated story, which is actually a bunch of little stories. He talks about his two best friends, Riku and Kairi, how irritated he gets because Riku always wins their races, how he and Kairi always watch the sunsets, and how they've all been together since he can remember. He talks a bit about his cousin, Roxas, who he's very close with. He mentions how they're very different people, but they're hardly seen without each other. Also, he and Roxas are only a few weeks apart in age, Sora being the older of the two. He talks a bit about his friends Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, how they're all fun to sword fight against, go to the beach with, or just be with in general. But with how he talks about everyone, he makes it very clear that Riku and Kairi are his two best friends; they can never be replaced.

He tells her of things that people wouldn't normally tell strangers, like his extreme love for puppies, or that he prefers to eat ice cream with a fork. He recalls his mom a few times, enthusiastically declaring that she's the best cook ever. He especially loves her apple pie, and the way she arranges marshmallows in hot chocolate to look like a smiley-face. His favorite color's blue, and he almost never wears matching socks because he gets too lazy when it comes to pairing them after the laundry's done. He has an extreme fear of frogs, and… oh yeah, he believes in Santa.

As a rough summary, he imparts random, odd things that make Naminé question the boy even more. She feels as if she's learned everything and nothing about him… all at the same time. The nonsensical story-telling makes her feel lightheaded, but strangely giddy, too.

And that thought almost renders her speechless.

Okay, so maybe she's wrong. He's _definitely_ not like anybody she's ever met before.

She can tell a lot about him already. His friends mean the world to him; he'll never give them up for anything. He seems to have a happy demeanor most of the time, always lightening the mood, being optimistic. Expanding on that, he has a wonderful mix of seriousness and goofiness in his personality. He's impulsive, tending to speak before he thinks, and he's also very compassionate, thinking of everyone's well-being.

Maybe it's the way he _is_ that makes him so strange to her. Yes, that must be it. He's so loud and illustrious; he practically shines, automatically standing out. Although, it's becoming obvious to Naminé that he doesn't _need_ to be loud to get noticed. He's just one of those people that automatically become a winner to peoples' hearts, never an afterthought.

Maybe she's just gotten used to him, but she no longer feels nervous as he looks her in the eyes, or when he smiles her way. She can feel herself unintentionally smile as well, in response to his. Something about being with him just feels natural, like they've been friends for months, maybe even years.

"What about you, Naminé? Tell me about yourself," his eyes are full of life as he asks her. He wants to know more about the girl who's been acting so differently around him.

Apparently, the fact that she's _shy_ hasn't crossed his mind yet.

"Ummm… w-well..." Naminé's stunned to silence at the sudden question. She doesn't even know where to _start_, especially not after the very detailed story he's told her.

"Ah…" he's beginning to understand. "That's okay. I'll just ask you questions. How about that?"

Well, that makes things easier. She nods in response, a bit happy that he's caught on. She's not nervous at all anymore, but her shy demeanor isn't going to go away as easily as her nerves.

"Okay, hmmm…" the strange boy looks upwards, thinking of a good question. "Well, why did you move here? And where from?"

"I used to live in Twilight Town. My dad found a better paying job out here, and it's closer to family…" Naminé says matter-of-factly, but a little sadly. She doesn't expect Sora to show her sympathy, though. Whenever she talks to people, her sadness is usually overlooked, or mistaken for something else almost all the time.

Sora, however, picks up on it right away.

"You miss your old home and friends… don't you?" he asks her sympathetically.

She nods, slightly bothered (and surprised) by the fact that he can read her so well. But, she figures it's just the compassionate virtue he seems to possess.

"Don't be sad. Just because you don't see them every day doesn't mean they're not your friends anymore!" He nudges her playfully.

"I know, but I still miss them…"

"I'm sure they miss you, too… but you can't let it get to you, you know. You have to try and think positive." He smiles excitedly, trying to get her to return it.

She stares back at him dubiously, silently questioning him exactly _how_ she's supposed to think positively about her situation.

He seems to notice her doubt. "Think about it like this: every day you're not with them brings you closer to the day that you _will_ see them. You just have to be patient!" He ruffles her hair playfully.

There's a pause as she considers his way of thinking.

"I never thought of it like that…" she admits, smiling slightly.

"There you go! You're smiling! That's good," he sighs happily, grinning in return. He comes to the conclusion that her smile can outshine anything, even the sun. "And don't forget that you have your new friends, too, right?"

"…Right," Naminé agrees happily.

"So, how many friends have you made so far?"

Naminé fidgets shyly, "Well… only really one person. Her name's Olette…"

Sora gasps dramatically, eyes wide, placing a hand over his heart. "Are you saying that _I'm_ not your friend, Naminé?"

"O-oh, w-well, I mean…" She tries to correct herself, but she's cut off by Sora's laughter.

"Kidding, only kidding. You don't even have to say it, I _know_ I'm your best friend," Sora teases with a poke to her shoulder, smiling easily.

Could this be considered flirting? Well if it is, Sora's completely oblivious to the fact that he's doing it.

"Of course you are." Naminé rolls her eyes, smiling wryly. She surprises herself. She normally doesn't have enough nerve to be sarcastic, at least not outside of her thoughts. Most of her thoughts are kept under lock and key, but somehow, he's brought it out of her.

"You shouldn't be so mean to your best friend, Naminé," Sora jokes again. He walks towards the back room, grabbing a plastic bowl and fork on his way.

The blonde follows him, curious as to what he's doing. When she reaches the back room, she sees Sora open the freezer containing ice cream, staring at it longingly.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm eating ice cream!" the brunette says excitedly, scooping chocolate ice cream in his bowl. Although, how he manages to do it with a fork is a mystery.

"Sora!" Naminé hisses. "We're still working! We're not allowed to eat unless we're on break!"

"Well, I guess I'm on break then," he retorts, closing the freezer and sitting on top of it. He immediately indulges, ignoring the blonde's complaints.

"You know what I mean. We're not supposed to eat _that_ food; it's for the customer!" Naminé chides him again, panicking slightly.

"Naminé, I'm hungry…" Sora pouts, lightly arguing back. He doesn't like the fact that he's upsetting her, but all he wants to do is eat. He doesn't understand why she's so anxious about this…

"But, you'll get in trouble!" She casts a glance out the window, making sure that no one's coming.

Sora laughs at her virtuous yet naïve integrity, finally understanding. "Naminé, no one comes up here. I'll be fine! Trust me."

The blonde sighs, giving up. "Fine, but…if you get fired, don't forget that I warned you."

"Duly noted…" he says, playfully dismissing her warning. He looks down and sees her glaring at him. He laughs inwardly. She's annoyed, and he finds it funny. It's over such a small matter, too.

Then he realizes something.

"You know, I should break the rules more often!" He grins broadly, making her reproachful glare intensify slightly. He makes note of how cute she looks when she's angry, immediately blushing slightly at the thought.

"And why would you want to do that?" she asks, almost impatiently. She knows that he's just pulling her strings, but she's letting him do it anyway. It's one of the weird effects he has on her.

He smiles warmly, trying to hide his reddened face, "Well, look at how much you're talking to me now! You've said more to me in one minute than you have for the whole hour you've been here."

She takes a moment to think about his answer, but doesn't get what he's implying, "So?"

Now finished with his ice cream, Sora jumps off the freezer, throwing the bowl and fork into a nearby trashcan. Naminé is still staring at him, waiting for his answer. Noticing her persistent stare, Sora chuckles to himself before explaining his motives.

"Sooooo..." He rolls his eyes playfully. "I should break the rules more often, so you'll talk more!"

She furrows her brows, still a bit confused.

He sighs, shaking his head slightly. "It's a shame that you're so shy, Naminé, because I like talking to you. A lot, actually!" He smiles brilliantly at her, his eyes emitting a certain spark that has never been seen before.

"Oh…" She looks down at her feet. She doesn't know why she's coming to this conclusion _now,_ but she finds that she likes the way he says her name. The way he accents it is just... perfect.

There's another silence. Sora can't tell if it's awkward or not. He's worried that he's made her feel uncomfortable again, but all of his worries slip away when she looks up and smiles at him.

"Thank you," Naminé says earnestly. "I-I like talking to you, too."

Sora returns her smile. "I-I'm glad…" he says, stuttering slightly himself.

The two fly into conversation effortlessly this time, talking about favorites and friends and anything under the sun. It's like they're in their own little world where it can be anything, even nine in the afternoon. Naminé hasn't been this happy since before she's moved here, and Sora hasn't found it so easy to talk to someone before. Their thoughts and words fly freely around each other, bringing them closer in one day than they could have ever imagined.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

Hmmm... maybe summer vacation isn't all of it. While most people are happy with just that, it's not everything. Sometimes, you just need _somebody_ to make your day seem brighter, even if it's only by a little.

And it looks like Sora's just showed up to be Naminé's somebody.

* * *

Just a quick comment: the little "nine in the afternoon" line came from Panic! At The Disco's song "Nine in the Afternoon." I didn't really take anything from the song to make this chapter, I just really, really wanted to include that in the story somewhere. I think the title of the song is so cool, because it can never be nine in the afternoon. But yeah, it's a good song, too.

Also: yeah, I didn't give them Japanese last names, shame on me. Although the last name "Hikari" fits with Sora's personality, I don't think it flows well with his name, if you know what I mean. I mean, say it out loud: Sora Hikari. It just doesn't work, in my opinion. So, I gave him a last name that "flows" much better, and that happens to be Matthews. I'll slowly do the same for all of the other characters, too. Although, it doesn't matter much; last names are just last names. I just wanted to give an explanation in case people are curious...

So, what would I like you to comment on? Well, the overall story, of course. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Are you indifferent? And how did I do with characterization? I tried my best to keep everyone as in-character as possible, including the minor characters. And of course please comment on specific things: What did you like? What did you hate? What did I do awesome on? What did I suck at? Remember, I do prefer **constructive criticism**, so... yeah, just be honest. It's the most helpful review you can give, if you're just honest. Trust me.

'Kay, enough of my rambling.

Soooo what are you waiting for? **Clicky el Review Button** below por favor =P (Yeah, I haven't taken Spanish in a while...can you tell?)


	2. Speckles of Scarlet

Hey, look at this! An update finally! Wheww! Hehe... so yeah.

First of all! Sorry this took so long. I was typing away with this chapter, when I noticed that it started to get a little long. I know I usually do pretty long chapters, but this was getting _long_ (about 35 pages to be exact) and there was _still_ a lot more I wanted to include so I could get up to a certain point. So, I thought a 40+ page chapter would be a little ridiculous, don't you agree? Plus, midterms are coming up *grumble grumble*, so I (unfortunately) have to devote my time to my oh-so-lovely school work. So, I decided to not make you guys wait any longer for an update from me, so I cut what I wrote so far up to about page 24-ish, which is still pretty long. But I thought it was a good cutoff point. Anyway, so here's the first half of what would have been a ridiculously long chapter. After this is posted, I'll finish up from what's left over, and then I'll post that, too. It should take less time, since it's already (technically) halfway done. Sound cool? Awesome.

Second of all! This is probably not going to continue how you all thought it would, and I'm sorry if you're disappointed in that. But, this is how I envisioned the story, and I'm determined to make it as realistic yet different as possible, with a ton of cute moments (both fluff and friendship) with a variety of characters. Like, seriously, this chapter has a crapload of new people. But, I digress...

I know I usually do review replies, but I've replied to all of you in a PM, so yeah. I mean, I usually do both for whatever reason, but I'm sort of in a rush to get this posted. I'm sort of thinking that doing both is a waste of time anyway, since I'm basically repeating myself. So yeah. Sorry! But, duty calls. Please just read it and please let me know what you think. About everything. And even if you don't, I appreciate that you're reading it. =]

* * *

**Chapter Two: Speckles of Scarlet**

~_`.:__The moment I **first** laid eyes on _you_  
I knew I'd know you for a long time  
It was like coming home__ :._~`

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"I can't _believe_ we're actually having this conversation," the boy says, chuckling animatedly.

"Ughh, I knew you'd laugh at me…"

"What's not to laugh at? The story's pretty funny if you ask me…"

"I'm serious. _Dead_ serious. I've never met anyone like her before."

"You haven't even actually met her," Sora contradicts his cousin, Roxas. He stops the worked up blonde in his tracks. He himself is ambling down the hallway, looking for his locker.

"Th-that doesn't matter," Roxas stutters after a pause. "I can just _tell._"

"You can just tell?" the brunette repeats dubiously, half-listening, half-preoccupied with all of the 'first day of school' mixed feelings that everyone seems to get. Of course, the animated and happy-go-lucky Sora is always happy to see his friends every day. But when school steps into the picture… yuck.

Sora finds his locker, and promptly throws his stuff down next to it, reading the assigned combination and working on getting his locker opened. He may not be that particularly fond of school compared to summer vacation, but he still wants to make the first day as good as it can be by getting everything organized.

"Yeah, I don't know how to explain it, Sora. Gimme a break…" Roxas lets out a groan of frustration, banging his head while leaning against the locker next to Sora's.

Upon opening his locker and hearing his cousin's complaints, Sora feels a bit guilty. "Hey... sorry, Roxas. I was just kidding around. I didn't think you'd take this so seriously…" He looks Roxas straight in the eyes, half-smiling.

Roxas' mouth twitches into a smile automatically. It never fails; Sora's smiles are always contagious. "It's okay. I mean… I guess I can understand where you're coming from. I made it sound like I was _obsessed_ with her or something—"

"You were practically _stalking_ her, Roxas!" Sora blurts out, with no intention of being mean, but with intentions of trying to lighten his somber cousin up.

"Sora!" the blonde blurts out incredulously, casually shifting his gaze around to make sure no one heard.

"Roxas!" the brunette mocks Roxas, sending a cheeky smile his way. Roxas is hardly amused.

"Sora…" Roxas mumbles his cousin's name, almost like he's angry. He really isn't, though. More embarrassed than anything.

"What? Roxas, be honest with me here. You saw her _at the park_ and followed her _to her house_. Is that or is that not stalking?" Sora laughs at the way he phrased the question, hoping to get his cousin to do the same.

Roxas is fully embarrassed now, but somehow Sora's 'jokester' attitude rubs off on him.

"Shut up."

"That's the spirit!" Sora commends his cousin for taking the situation lightly. Finally.

Chuckling a bit, Roxas continues, "Some cousin _you_ are. You just wait! When you have girl problems, I'll take that opportunity to emotionally stab you like you're doing to me now."

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Sora takes a sideways glance at his cousin, closing his own locker.

If you could ever compare the two in one setting, Sora is the outgoing, friendly, and charismatic one; Roxas is the reserved, thoughtful, and (usually) composed one. Sora is the unmistakable, loud, eye-catching foreground while Roxas is the unnoticed, rarely smiling, but still just as wonderful background.

But put both together, and you have a fantastic painting; both together make a dynamic duo.

Now walking to Roxas' locker, which isn't too far away, Sora brings them back to the conversation, "Now, lets get down to business. You said you saw her in this school, right?"

"Right."

"And we've _never _seen her before?"

"...Right."

"And you don't know her name?"

"…"

"I'm guessing that's right?" Sora smiles at his cousin's shyness once again.

"Yeah, that's right…"

"Okay, well… tell me some things about her. Maybe we'll be able to find her later."

Roxas averts his gaze, ruffling some of his spikes around with a free hand. "Well… she's not amazingly beautiful. I mean, she _is_ beautiful, but she's not one of those girls that get noticed just because they're pretty… kind of like Olette." Roxas pauses, smiling a bit at the mention of his friends' name.

Sora shakes his head. "Roxas, a lot of girls in this school are pretty. You're gonna need to tell me more than that."

The blond chuckles nervously. "Right! Well… she has blonde hair, blue eyes, and I know that sounds pretty typical. But, the thing that made me notice her the most is: she was just sitting there… drawing. She was so patient, staring at objects or even _people_ for a long time. I couldn't help but watch her watching everyone else. She must have drawn like… ten drawings that whole time. She seems like the quiet type; shy, but not _completely_ timid. Not to sound creepy, but I watched her for a long time, and didn't find out much about her."

"Oh…" Sora's practically stunned to silence with his cousin's thoughtful declaration of his feelings. He's about to say something when Roxas continues his monologue.

"You know what it is? Right before she got up, I could've sworn her gaze slid over to _me_ for a second and she smiled. It was so hesitant and natural, not like anything I've ever seen before. I mean, there were no 'fireworks,' but it was just a smile. You know, the type of smile that's barely there, but it took my breath away. I just wanted to get to know her. Just because of that smile. So I followed her…"

Sora raises his eyebrows at his cousin, who complies, "Okay _fine_ I stalked her. Wow... following someone because of a smile. Heh… I must sound like a complete fool, huh?" Roxas looks up at his cousin, surprised to see a warm smile on the brunette's face.

"No, not a _complete_ one, anyway," Sora relates his anticipated joke, but then grows immediately serious. "Wow, that's so… _sappy_, Roxas."

Roxas laughs sarcastically. "Thanks, Sora… you're a _big_ help."

Sora stops his cousin from walking, placing a hand on his shoulder. "No! I'm serious! That's like something _I_ would say. I mean, according to Riku, I'm a total sap."

"That's because you _are_ a total sap, Sora." Roxas laughs wholeheartedly now. "No, you know what? _You _would have said something totally cliché, like… 'her smile outshines the sun' or something."

Sora pouts, vaguely recalling himself thinking such a thing about a girl he met over the summer. He wonders how she's doing, or what she's doing right now...

He soon shrugs it off, saying, "So what if I am? Being sappy isn't a bad thing."

"I didn't say it was."

"Then why did you act offended when I said you were being sappy?"

"Because I thought you were _trying_ to be offensive!"

"I think you're being overly-sensitive."

"_You're_ being underly-sensitive."

Silence…

Both cousins are staring at each other, and then…

Laughter.

"_Underly_-sensitive? I swear, Roxas, you crack me up!"

"Yeah, I don't know… stuff like that just comes to me, I guess." Roxas shrugs, laughing much more quietly than his counterpart.

Sora sighs happily, in a better mood than he was a few seconds ago. Sure, he knows he may be a bit of a 'sap,' but he doesn't necessarily like how people tease him for it. He knows they're just kidding, but… sometimes, things like that get to him. Just a little.

"Sorry for being overly-sensitive," Roxas apologizes, raising his eyebrows.

"And I'm sorry for being underly-sensitive." Sora smiles in return.

"Now, could you possibly try to stop messing around, and help me out?" Roxas asks, finding his locker and working the combination into the lock.

"Yes, possibly," Sora complies, still with a smile attached. Despite the fact that he's been teasing his cousin, Sora is very determined to make this work for Roxas, no matter how challenging it may be…

Sora muses about the failed attempts of getting Roxas to admit his feelings for Olette as Roxas finishes gathering his things, closing his locker.

"What'cha thinking about? You have that thoughtful look on your face…" Roxas questions his cousin, mounting his already too-heavy backpack on his shoulders.

"Nothing really. It's just, I always thought you and Olette would end up together."

Roxas grimaces. "Aww, come on, Sora. Why would you say that? I... I don't like Olette anymore, okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Sora immediately agrees with his cousin, but can't help but shake the feeling that Roxas isn't being completely honest with himself.

"I'm pretty sure she likes Hayner anyway…" Roxas adds indifferently, rolling his eyes at the name. "Honestly, he's my friend and everything, but sometimes he can be so immature."

Sora doesn't really know Hayner very well, so he just shrugs the comment off, changing the subject. He's never been one for drama anyhow. "So, you're pretty determined to talk to this 'mystery' girl, aren't you?"

Roxas hangs his head in shame. "Pretty stupid, isn't it? I can't help it though; she keeps invading my mind like some sort of… psychological terrorist."

Sora laughs at his cousin's witty comment. "Hey, don't sweat it. Since we haven't seen her around, that means she's probably new here. So if you see her, you should invite her to eat lunch with us and our friends or something. That'll be a good icebreaker."

Roxas nods. "Good idea. Thanks for the help, Sora."

"No problem, Roxas. Sorry for teasing you. I just can't help it sometimes!" Sora waves his hand, walking backwards towards his homeroom. He doesn't turn around until Roxas chuckles and waves back, turning towards his own homeroom himself.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"Hi, umm… my name's—"

"Naminé, right? Oh, we've been expecting you! How are you liking Destiny High School so far, dear?" the kind office lady bombards the unsuspecting girl with overwhelming friendliness.

"Um… it's… it's nice. It's really big. I almost got lost getting here," the shy girl admits sheepishly, smiling softly.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Another office lady steps in the conversation. "Let me look up your schedule; I'll call someone in your homeroom and ask them to show you around for today, how does that sound, deary?"

"Oh… um, that'd be really helpful, thank you," Naminé thanks the almost-too-sweet office ladies with another smile.

A third lady steps up to speak to Naminé. "Excuse me, dear, but I'll introduce myself and my co-workers. I'm Flora, this is Merryweather, and the one talking on the phone right now is Fauna."

"Pleased to meet you all," Naminé says politely again, straining to smile this time.

Naminé's an overall nice girl, but there _are_ limits for even the sweetest of all people. And besides, she's a teenager; she's allowed to be a bit impatient with certain things. But, she knows that these three mean well, and she wants to make a good first impression on everyone in this school. So, even though their attitude bothers her a _little_, she still knows when to be polite.

"Oh, what a sweet girl," Flora comments while walking back to her desk.

Naminé only has to wait a few seconds before Fauna declares, "Alright Naminé, someone's coming over right now to help you get to your locker and your homeroom. Is there anything else you need, deary?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Naminé bows her head slightly.

She sits down in one of the chairs against the wall, examining her schedule. Her schedule is pretty standard for someone being a sophomore like she is: there's algebra II (honors), English (honors), history (honors), and biology (honors). Well, maybe besides the "honors" part. Naminé's very studious for someone of her age. She has some extra classes as well: choir, gym, lunch, an art elective, drivers' ed, and study hall. Overall, she's pretty pleased with her schedule.

Naminé has to smile knowing that she has a bit of an advantage over the average new student: she actually _knows_ people already; she's made some friends. She just hopes that she's in at least _some_ classes with those friends that she's managed to make over the summer. Maybe even a class or two with that strange boy that she met that day… he goes to this school, right?

The office door swings open, revealing a pretty girl with brown hair and startling emerald eyes. Those eyes are searching the office for someone, until they land on the new student.

"Olette?" Naminé says her name out loud, like she can't believe her wish has _actually_ come true.

"Naminé!" Olette practically screams her name, too full of excitement to care about how loud she's being. Olette runs over to greet her friend with a hug, giggling embarrassedly when she realizes how rash she's acting.

"I'm so glad we're in the same homeroom!" Naminé exclaims, truly happy for the first time since she woke up this morning.

"Me too! Come on, let's go! We can compare schedules on the way!" Olette's beaming with happiness.

It doesn't take long for them to see that they share a few classes together, which isn't surprising. Olette is just as serious about academics as Naminé is; in fact, even more so. While Naminé is in all honors classes, Olette's taking a few AP courses.

"How come you have 'Drawing and Painting I'? That sounds like _my _kind of elective!" Naminé frowns slightly.

"I don't know; the scheduling is so random. I'm sure you'll be able to get it next quarter! Just make sure to sign up right away." Olette nods cheerfully.

"Yeah, that's true. This school is so weird; at my old school, they gave out the schedules a few weeks before school started, so you could drop a class if you wanted to. If _this_ school did that, I wouldn't have been worrying about whether or not I had any classes with people I know."

Olette nods. "True, but this school wants you to take the class at least once, just to try it out, before you go and drop it. If it turns out you don't like a class, you can talk to the Guidance Counselor, and she'll try and find you a new elective to fill up that time slot."

Naminé sighs quietly, not exactly used to the school's way of running things just yet.

"Don't worry; you'll adapt. Hey, it looks like we have lunch together! Wanna sit with me and my friends? We have a huge table, so you'll make a lot of friends really quickly!"

"Umm… alright. Why not… " Naminé's not too keen on meeting a lot of people at once, but if Olette's there, she knows she can handle it.

At least… she hopes so.

"Great! Let's get to homeroom!"

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"Hi, my name's Naminé," she repeats for what feels like the millionth time already, even though it's only first period: her algebra II class. She's getting anxious from everyone staring at her, but she's extremely grateful that she has Olette in this class. It breaks off some of the awkward tension that she can't help but feel when literally _everyone's_ eyes are on her.

"Thank you, Naminé," the teacher, Mr. Leonheart, replies curtly. "Pick any seat you want. If you're any trouble, then I'll move you."

Naminé nods nervously, sort of perplexed by the man's gruff attitude. She searches for Olette and (immediately feeling relieved) finds a vacant seat in front of Olette, who is seated all the way in the far right corner.

Naminé also notices that Olette's sitting next to a boy with blonde hair. Naminé also _can't help but_ _notice_ that the boy's eyes are practically glued to her own face.

"_Is there something on my face?" _Naminé wonders, baffled as to why the boy would be staring at her so anxiously. She walks over towards the beginning of the row, stealthily checking herself in the small mirror that's tacked onto the wall.

Nope, nothing on her face. That's weird…

Naminé walks down the row, taking a seat in front of Olette and shooting the brunette a small smile. She wouldn't let the whole thing bother her for now. It's not like she has to get to know him.

Speaking of which, Roxas is currently sitting diagonally from Naminé, internally freaking out. He _just_ had a conversation with Sora about this girl, and all words of advice are filtering out of his head, only to be replaced by gibberish and nonsense that he can't even comprehend.

"Naminé…" Olette whispers, tapping the blonde on the shoulder. Olette is, of course, oblivious to Roxas' discomfort. Not that this is much of a surprise; Roxas is trying his best to not look nervous on the outside, something he's very good at. He's always been good at concealing his feelings, looking composed practically 24/7. While he is normally composed, sometimes something like _this_ happens, and he has to pretend.

"Yeah?" Naminé turns around, making eye contact with Roxas for a split second before giving her full attention to Olette.

"This is my _best friend_, Roxas!" The boy in question feels a bit crestfallen at the two words but neither girl notices it. "He's a bit of a weirdo, but don't worry, he's a great friend. Right, Roxas?" Olette turns to face him and smiles sweetly.

"Hey! Thanks a lot, Olette…" He laughs slightly, looking Naminé in the eyes, saying, "Don't listen to her; I'm not that weird!" and ruffling his spiky hair out of habit.

"_Could've fooled me…"_ Naminé thinks, laughing internally at her remark. _"Well, he doesn't seem so bad. Maybe he was just staring at me like that because he thought I was looking at him and not Olette. Or he's just as bad with meeting people as I am. Yeah, that makes sense…"_

"My name's Naminé. It's nice to meet you, Roxas." Naminé holds out her hand, and Roxas obliges, letting a small smile touch his lips.

Naminé's breath hitches in her throat slightly. Why does he look so familiar…? And that name, Roxas… why does she feel like she's heard that name before? It's not exactly the most common name...

"You, too, Naminé." Roxas doesn't say much of anything else. Not that he usually would anyhow, being the taciturn person that he is. But, there's probably some other reason as to why he isn't as well. At least, he feels like there is. It's probably just nerves…

There's a lull in the conversation, but Olette picks up the slack.

"Roxas is one of the people that'll be sitting with us at lunch today. I figured it would be good for you to meet as many people as you can before then, so you don't get too overwhelmed. I know how shy you can be, Naminé."

"Thanks for understanding, Olette." Naminé smiles brightly, truly grateful that Olette can sympathize with her.

Naminé locks eyes with Roxas for another second before turning around to listen to the teacher. She decides to forget about the minor mystery for now, and ask questions later. She and Roxas have probably never even met, but there's just _something _so familiar about him, a connection so hard to explain.

…But it's something.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"Class! Class! Settle down!" a frantic teacher with a mullet tries to calm the hundreds of students who all happen to be in choir. Naminé is one of the very few listening to the teacher, mainly because she respects authority and she doesn't have this class with either Olette _or_ Roxas (although, she'd much prefer the former), so she's just sort of sitting in her own world, being her normally shy and un-talkative self.

But, to be completely honest, it's mostly the latter reason that's keeping her quiet. She's just too shy for her own good.

It takes a few minutes, but the class finally calms down. In moments time, they're more or less listening to the teacher ramble about how it's a new year and he's glad to be back, and…

Naminé's sort of zoning out in her chair, which is pretty comfortable. Choir class takes place in the auditorium, so it's not surprising that the chairs are comfortable. The chairs are arranged and designed like how they are in a movie theater, the way the bottom part of the chair goes down only when you sit on it, and goes right back up again when you stand up… that kind of chair.

Anyway, Naminé's busy thinking about the last conversation she had with Roxas before this class, and finds herself feeling a bit ticked off. Not necessarily at Roxas himself, but what they had talked about…

"_So, what class do you have next?" Roxas had asked her._

"_Choir!" Naminé replied, kind of excited to be in a singing class. She was one of the top singers at her old school, but like heck she'd tell anybody that. _

_Roxas smiled at her excitement. "Good choice."_

"_Why? Are you taking it, too?"_

_Roxas chuckled a bit. "No way! I don't care if it's an easy 'A', I'm not wasting my time singing!" Truth be told, Roxas doesn't actually have a problem with singing; some people have even commended him on his exceptional vocal abilities. The truth is, he's just as shy and un-confident about his skills as Naminé is. _

_But he thought it didn't matter. After all, isn't it cooler for guys to _not_ be into singing? He figured that if he acts 'cool', he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Naminé. _

_Unfortunately, his plan kinda backfired. _

"_Easy 'A?' What do you mean?" She furrowed her eyebrows._

"_Well… the only reason people take choir is because it's basically like a study hall. The teacher's such a pushover; it's unbelievable!" Roxas laughed at his joke, but his laughter soon died when he realized that Naminé wasn't joining in. _

"_So, I'm going to be the only person who actually _wants_ to take this class seriously?" the girl asked him sadly. _

_Roxas couldn't muster up enough courage to speak. He hadn't expected the conversation to go that way…_

"_Never mind, Roxas. I have to go to choir." Naminé waved good-bye to him halfheartedly, brushing past him to enter the Auditorium. _

_When she was out of earshot, Roxas promptly scolded himself. "Stupid!" He slammed his head against a nearby locker, cursing under his breath. He stared at her retreating figure guiltily, trying to think up ways to regain what little friendship they had built. _

…

"_Ughh, and I thought this was a nice school. People shouldn't be allowed to sign up unless they're actually interested in the subject matter,"_ Naminé complains to herself, thoroughly upset. She's worried that this will be a huge waste of time, just because people don't want to take it seriously.

The teacher has apparently finished his little 'back to school' speech.

"Well class, looks like we have some time left. I think we should all go up to the risers here in front of the stage and get used to doing the warm-ups and scales."

Many students groan, but comply anyhow. After all, when it all boils down, your teacher is your teacher, pushover or no.

Naminé walks over to the risers, standing in a relatively vacated spot, hoping to not be noticed _too_ much. When she introduced herself to the teacher, Mr. Nine, he had asked her if she wanted to introduce herself to the class, too. He noticed her reluctance right away, and said she didn't have to if she didn't want to. Needless to say, Naminé already likes the teacher a lot, even though he seems a little lazy.

So, they're in the middle of doing scales when Naminé notices a whisper going through the entire group of students standing on the risers. She can't tell what they're whispering about, nor does she really care. Since she's the only one who really _cares_ about this class, she's decided to try her hardest in it, not letting anything or anyone distract her from the music.

The warm-ups stop for a moment while Mr. Nine lectures about tone quality. Naminé is listening intently, but something in the corner of her eye catches her attention: two heads peeking up slightly over the row of chairs. One head is covered in slivery smooth hair, the other is covered in wild, spiky, brown hair.

It seems like two troublemakers have decided to hide in the space that the rows of chairs make. If you lay down in between any two rows of chairs, you're completely hidden to the people in front of you.

That is, unless you decide to be dumb about it and lift your head up, letting everyone see you.

Because of her determination to take the class seriously, Naminé doesn't really find the whole ordeal amusing in the least. However, her classmates think differently…

A titter of laughter emits from everyone after the two heads peek over the top of the chairs, except for Naminé's and the teacher's, of course. Naturally, a small escape of laughter from one person is nothing, but a bit of laughter coming from (almost) every single person in the choir is enough for anyone to notice something's up.

"Class…" Mr. Nine stops his lecturing. "What's so funny?"

No answer…

"Come on, I'm serious! If something's funny, let me in on the joke, too. I wanna laugh about it!"

Silence…

Mr. Nine sighs, frustrated. "Demyx!"

"Y-yes?" a nervous boy with an odd, mullet-like hairstyle and blue-green eyes answers to the teacher.

"_What_ is everyone laughing about?" Mr. Nine asks patiently.

"I-I don't know, um… sir!" the boy named Demyx stutters in reply. Naminé notes that he looks quite a bit older than her; he's probably a senior, maybe even held back a year or two. But he sure isn't _acting_ like an adult.

"I think you do. Now spill," the teacher demands.

"No! No! I really don't! I swear!"

"Demyx, remember what I told you. If you don't listen to me at school, I will…"

"No! No! Noooooo! Dad, please don't!" Demyx gets down on hands and knees, begging.

"_Did he just say 'Dad'?"_ Naminé deadpans, immediately feeling sorry for Demyx. _"Huh… poor guy. He seems to be so high-strung."_

"Yes, Demyx. If you don't tell me, I'll take away your sitar! Now, tell me what's so funny!" Mr. Nine points at Demyx menacingly.

Feeling defeated, Demyx points to the general location of the two random, unseen people. "Over there…"

Mr. Nine nods curtly to his son, making his way down the rows of the auditorium, finally stopping at one.

There's a short moment of silence before two boys get up simultaneously and make their way to the risers, all the while being applauded by all members of the choir. Well… almost. Naminé is, of course, the exception.

But, strangely enough, she's not the exception because of her disapproval of the prank, but because she can't keep her eyes off one of the boys that's emerged from the row and is now making his way towards the risers.

The wild chestnut hair, the aesthetic sapphire eyes, the irresistible goofy grin, the always-friendly face, all of the features are there.

Is it…? Could it be…?

"_Sora?"_ Naminé thinks ecstatically, with a fast heartbeat and rising temperature to boot.

Apparently, all of the _reactions_ to the features are still there, too.

Naminé watches him smile a thanks to all of his applauding "fans," waving to a few like some sort of celebrity. It's just like meeting him for the first time all over again; his smile brings warmth into her heart that she just can't explain. That natural, nostalgic feeling of that one day so many weeks ago is coming back to her, and it takes all of her being to not lose grip with her thoughts.

But she knows that she shouldn't be thinking of things like this. No, not her, not about Sora, of all people! She hardly knows him! She shouldn't care so much about how he makes her feel…

Even though he makes her feel happy, possibly happier than anyone else is currently capable of…

No! He can't. He doesn't. It's just not true. They hardly know each other; for goodness sake, they only met once, and that was for what? Five hours?

But, in those five hours…

Sure, it may seem sort of fairytale-ish; it may be a bit like what happens in those cliché movies, but Sora has somehow traveled so deep into Naminé's heart, he's practically built his own home there.

And it's a mansion.

But, she's acting silly. She has to get her mind off of this little daydream. She _is,_ after all, sort of a stranger to him. He probably doesn't even remember her…

Naminé frowns slightly at the thought, but she's immediately pulled away from her thoughts when the applause stops and Mr. Nine's booming voice can be heard.

"Ah, Sora Matthews, you troublemaker. I'm glad you haven't changed!" Mr. Nine pats Sora's shoulder like an old friend. "But, I have to punish you for your misdeeds and all that good stuff, so… now you have to conduct the class for the rest of the period!"

Sora laughs wholeheartedly. Oh, how Naminé has missed that laugh of his. She doesn't realize it until just now, though, after it's been so long since she's heard it.

"Good one, Mr. Nine! You have a few jokes of your own, I see," Sora replies, trying to edge his way to the risers…

But Mr. Nine's grip on Sora's shoulder doesn't loosen. "No jokes here, Sora. Here's the baton," he says, handing the poor boy a baton.

"But! Riku doesn't have to do it!" Sora protests.

"That's because I like Riku more." Mr. Nine sends a salute to Riku, who returns it with a smirk on his face. "And, to tell you the truth, I'm sort of tired of conducting..."

Demyx gives his input, "Come on, Sora! Conducting isn't too bad. ...We're still buds, righ—?"

"Silence, traitor!" Riku cuts Demyx off, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Hey! That's my line…" Demyx mutters, loud enough for everyone to hear. Most of the students roll their eyes at his comment, either confused or indifferent.

"_His line? What's he _talking _about?" _Naminé wonders absentmindedly, attention still mainly focused on Sora… and choir, of course.

Sora pouts, still not liking the injustice, no matter how slight of an injustice it may be.

Mr. Nine sighs. "Sora, it's not that big of a deal. There's only five minutes left of class anyhow. You should be grateful that I'm not giving you a detention, yeah? I'll even help you out by playing the piano. Come on! Come on! Just get it over with!" With that, Mr. Nine gently pushes Sora to the place where the conductor normally stands, and makes his way over to the grande piano that's off to the side.

Sora sighs in defeat, raising his two hands, the baton in one of them. Snickers scatter throughout the mass of students, but Sora stops them all by flashing one of his trademark smiles and proceeds to lead the day's scales.

Things are pretty easy for the conductor when it comes to scales; whoever's on the piano plays the pitch that people are supposed to sing at and the conductor just controls the tempo. So, this leaves Sora free to look at whoever or whatever he wants while he's waving his arms around. And he does just that.

Naminé can't keep her eyes off of him. Well, she's not supposed to since he's the conductor, but some small voice in the back of her head tells her that she wouldn't be able to look away even if he weren't the conductor. He's just so darn noticeable, like the type of guy you'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice.

As she continues watching him, she sees a lot of things. She sees him smirk to his friend Riku; she sees him chuckle at a couple of his other friends, laughing with them as they laugh at his expense; she sees him glance at the clock a few times, counting down the time until he can finally stop waving his arms around like an idiot…

And then, she _thinks_ she sees him seeing her.

It's hard to tell whether or not he could be looking at someone right behind her, but it looks like a glow of recognition appears in his eyes… because he recognizes _her_.

It's hard to tell if it's really been there all along, but if Naminé would notice, she'd see that little spark light up in his eyes… the spark that only lights up around _her. _

It's hard to tell if it's one of his typical smiles (after all, he has so many of them), but it takes a lot to notice that right now, Sora's smiling a smile… that was only ever meant for _her. _

(Not that either of them would know these little secrets; they'll find out about them later on.)

"Naminé…?" Sora whispers her name, hardly believing what he's seeing. He's almost mistaken her for an angel again, but what angel would really spend their time in this virtual Hell called school?

His gaze is locked on her, and he can't look away… not that he really wants to. She hasn't changed a bit, and he loves it. He loves that his memories of her are still unchanged, and hopes that she is still unchanged as well.

It's all too soon before the bell signaling the next class rings, and Sora loses sight of her in the blur of hundreds of moving students.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"Naminé! Naminé!"

The girl in question turns around and around, but can't find whoever's calling her. She's standing in the middle of the hallway, completely lost. Because she didn't share choir with anyone she _really _knew, she couldn't ask for directions to her next class. And everyone's walking by her so quickly; she has no idea where she is.

"_Okay, calm down, Naminé. You just need to gather your bearings. That's all." _Naminé mentally calms herself down. She finds a spot in one of the lobbies that's relatively empty and leans against a brick wall. She waits until the hallways clear up a little and makes her way towards the nearest person to ask where the tenth grade English room is.

And she would have succeeded in her little mission if _someone _hadn't rudely tackled her to the ground.

…_CRASH!_

"Oww…" Naminé complains, sitting up, massaging her arms that she knows will have bruises by tomorrow. Sometimes she wishes that she wouldn't bruise so darn easily…

She _would _get up completely, but there's a huge weight on her back, preventing her from doing so.

"Get off!" Naminé pouts, trying to shoo whoever it is away from her. Within a few seconds, the weight is off of her. She gets up to a standing position when she's tackled _again_, but by a bear-hug this time.

"Wha-What the heck?" Naminé grits her teeth, getting annoyed and panicky. "Get off of me, please! I-I'm gonna be late for class…"

"Naminé, what have I told you about being mean to your best friend?" a happy, familiar voice whispers, filtering through her ears. The voice isn't only whispering into her ears, but into her heart as well, all the way down to the home in her heart that he's built himself.

"S-Sora?" Naminé asks incredulously. She turns around, and sure enough, there he is in all his crazy-haired, blue-eyed, goofy grinning glory.

"Naminé…" Sora smiles _that smile,_ the one that's only meant for _her._ "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Hmm… perhaps Naminé's built a home in Sora's heart as well.

"R-really?" Naminé asks, confused. Here, she thought he'd forgotten all about her, but he's completely proving her wrong.

"Y-yeah!" Sora breathes out a laugh, immediately blushing when he realizes that he's sounding like a 'total sap' again. "I-I mean, you… we… ughh…" He hangs his head in embarrassment, partially trying to hide the speckles of scarlet on his face, partially trying to avoid her penetrating eyes.

Naminé laughs gently at his odd behavior, feeling that confused, woozy feeling all over again. She should be used to this wonderfully strange feeling by now; it's just as wonderful and strange as Sora himself. But, it's sure to go away in time. It has before, right?

Sora's head snaps up at the sound of her laughter. He thinks her laughter sounds wonderful, almost like bells…

But he pushes these thoughts aside for the moment, taking this opportunity to joke around with her, like they did on that day…

"What's so funny?" Sora asks her, almost accusingly. Nostalgia leads his mind away, back to the memory of their first _real_ conversation that started with that same exact question.

Naminé remains silent, still somewhat at a loss for words because of this odd re-encounter with Sora.

"Aww, come on, Naminé! Don't tell me you're gonna be all shy and aloof again."

Naminé lowers her head, feeling slightly self-conscious now that he's pointed out her biggest flaw. "There's nothing wrong with being shy…" she says quietly.

Sora picks up on her small trace of insecurity, and acts on it. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it, okay? I just meant that…" he trails off.

Geez, what the heck _does_ he mean? He's never been so tongue-tied in his life before.

"I just meant that… I mean, we got to be such good friends, right? You were opening up to me a lot; I just hope that hasn't changed…"

Naminé looks him in the eyes, smiling wistfully. "N-no, it hasn't changed, Sora. I'm just so surprised to see you again…"

"Yeah? M-me too…" Even though he can't seem to keep his eyes from avoiding her gaze, his smile never falters.

The two are wrapped in a comfortable silence, completely forgetting where they're at and what they're doing. The silence would have eventually developed into an awkward silence if the bell didn't ring, bringing the two back into reality.

"Oh, crap! We're late for class! Quick, tell me what class you have. I'll show you where it is before I go to mine, okay?" Sora touches her shoulder, trying to silently convey that he wants to help her out.

"A-alright." Naminé momentarily forgets the lull in their conversation and pulls out her schedule. "Umm… I have English with Miss Gainsborough next."

"Really? Me too!" Sora practically yells, eyes immediately brightening up, lips smiling wide from excitement.

Naminé can't help but smile in return. It's been said before, hasn't it? Sora's smiles are absolutely, wonderfully_ infectious. _

"Lead the way then, Sora."

"Okay!" Sora declares excitedly, grabbing the blonde's hand in excitement.

Leading the way to the English classroom, Sora can't help but notice how warm and fuzzy he feels now that he's holding her hand. He hasn't seen her in what feels like _years_, even though it's only been about three months. He must be just nervous. After all, she's quite pretty. He'd be lying to himself if he said otherwise. And he's never been 'the confident one' when it comes to girls; that's Riku's forte.

So, what he's feeling now: the awkward churning of his stomach, the warmth spreading throughout his body, the stirring in his chest… it's all completely normal.

Right?

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

"Sora and Naminé, I presume?" a kind-faced lady speaks as the two teenagers walk in the door. She has beautiful emerald eyes, and long, chestnut hair collected at the back of her head to make a braid that slides casually down her back.

Sora nods. "Sorry we're late, Miss Gainsborough. Naminé got lost." He rubs the back of his head bashfully with his free hand. The other one, Naminé notes with surprise (and glee), is still holding her own.

Miss Gainsborough nods and smiles politely. "It's fine. We were just talking about the curriculum. Feel free to sit anywhere." She gestures to the eight tables that are arranged throughout the room. From the looks of it, the tables can fit as many as six, but that doesn't stop a few people from squeezing in more than that, just so they can sit with all of their friends.

Sora nods and it's _now_ that he realizes he's been holding Naminé's hand this whole time. Swiftly, he detaches their hands and makes his way over to a table. He sighs, almost sadly, already not liking the feeling of her warmth leaving his hand.

Naminé, however, has to go through the trouble of introducing herself to the teacher since she's new. So, she stops in front of the desk and mumbles a shy "hello."

Miss Gainsborough smiles warmly at the shy girl. "Hello Naminé. I'm Miss Gainsborough, but you can call me Aerith if you want. How are you liking Destiny High so far?"

"I like it a lot. Everyone is so nice. It's really big, though…" Naminé smiles sheepishly. She can never forget that detail about the school; it's because of the school's hugeness that she's gotten lost, after all.

Aerith laughs along with Naminé. "Yeah, it is pretty big. Don't worry; on my first day of working here, I got lost plenty of times. It just takes some getting used to."

Naminé smiles. She immediately feels comfortable around the teacher. Something about Aerith is so warm and motherly, like she's just naturally good at taking care of people and making them feel better.

"Well, Naminé. It's a pleasure to meet you. Pick any seat you like!" Aerith smiles once again, leaving Naminé to turn around to look for a table to sit at.

She doesn't spot Olette, but she still doesn't have to look very long for a seat. After all, it's hard to miss a boy and a girl, both whose hair stands out for different reasons, waving sporadically for her to sit with them.

Naminé cracks a smile and makes her way over to Sora's table. She sits next to Sora on the long end of the table. Naminé notices that the other person, sitting on the short end of the table, is a pretty girl with bright violet eyes and fiery scarlet hair.

"Naminé, right?" the redhead extends her hand, almost blinding Naminé with a smile. "I'm Kairi, one of Sora's good friends."

Naminé blinks a few times. Why does that name sound familiar…? Oh, Kairi! That's right! Sora had mentioned her...

The blonde shakes out of her own thoughts, shaking hands with Kairi. "It's nice to meet you, Kairi…"

Their meeting is cut short when Aerith begins addressing the class again. She talks a bit about the curriculum, vocabulary, and what books they're going to read for the year. She gives off the vibe of being a very laid-back yet still punctual teacher. Basically, as long as everyone's working and doing what they're supposed to, she doesn't mind being lenient. Everyone respects her because she respects them, so she's one of the favorite teachers at Destiny High.

With five minutes of class time left, she lets them talk amongst themselves while she sits at her desk and reads a book. This gives the girls time to continue with their conversation.

"It's nice to finally meet you, too, Naminé!" Kairi says genuinely, immediately picking up where they left off.

The blonde tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean by 'finally' meeting me?"

Kairi laughs. "Oh, nothing really. Just, for a few days, Sora wouldn't _stop talking_ about yo—" She's abruptly cut off by a hand over her mouth. Namely, Sora's hand.

Sora laughs awkwardly. "Oh, Kairi. What did I tell you about eating cookies for breakfast? The sugar makes you _exaggerate things_…" Sora grits his teeth on the word 'exaggerate' but he still manages to aim a nervous smile at Naminé.

"_Oh, he's shy… kind of like me,"_ Naminé realizes, feeling internally giddy at the fact that _Sora_ was talking about her to his friends. _"That's so… cute."_ Her eyes immediately widen at the thought. She chuckles nervously, trying to move various thoughts to the back of her head. Thoughts like how true that actually is.

"I don't mind if you talk about me, Sora. Just as long as it isn't anything bad." Naminé smiles easily, already warming up to Kairi and her energy. Something about Kairi and Sora being with her makes her feel carefree, and it shows. She usually isn't so comfortable with joking around with people she's just met.

Kairi roughly removes Sora's hand from her mouth, eager to talk more. "Nope! Nothing bad whatsoever. I can't believe you were able to put up with that job for the whole summer, though. I wouldn't be able to do it. Way to show dedication!" Kairi nods her head in approval at Naminé.

Naminé laughs at Kairi's enthusiasm, so similar to Sora's. It makes her feel at home. "Well, working at the Amusement Park wasn't too bad. Right, Sora?"

"Ummm… err…. right!" Sora agrees awkwardly. Naminé furrows her brow in confusion as to why he's being so hesitant. She looks to Kairi for an explanation.

As if on cue, Kairi answers Naminé's unspoken question with a laugh, "Sora never told you, did he? He got fired from that job."

"You _what_?" Naminé turns to face an embarrassed Sora, who rubs the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, I got fired," Sora confesses quietly.

"_Yeah, I know _that_ already. Tell me why, you cactus-head!"_ Naminé thinks irritably, obviously disgruntled at the fact that the reason she hasn't seen Sora all summer is because he got _fired_. However, despite her irritation, she settles on asking a simple, "Why?"

"They caught me eating the ice cream… twice," Sora mutters quickly before burying his head in his arms on the table surface. He feels extremely ashamed.

Naminé can't help but feel a little smug. "Oh Sora, why didn't you just listen to me?"

Sora replies with a muffled "I don't know", which sounds more like "I ono", but it gets the point across. Naminé smiles softly at his childish behavior.

"They must have gotten suspicious when they looked at the ice cream and saw _fork_ markings in it," Kairi picks up the conversation, laughing easily. Naminé chuckles a bit at her joke. Of course, that _is_ a bit odd... only Sora.

Kairi continues, "Seriously though, I felt bad for him; he really liked that job. And you should have _seen_ him when he realized he wouldn't be able to see you at work agai—"

"Kairi, really!" Sora's head shoots up, cutting Kairi off once again. "That exaggerating thing is a problem! A really _bad_ one…" After glowering at the redhead for a few moments, he looks from her to Naminé and turns a bit red before he lowers his head, hiding his face in his arms once more.

Kairi giggles. "Isn't he cute when he's shy?" she teases, patting Sora on his head in a friendly way. She looks up at Naminé, expecting her to answer. Naminé swears she hears Sora grumbling, but his speech is too muffled for her to tell.

After a moment, Naminé nods, agreeing with Kairi.

"Yeah… he is."

Ever so slightly, Sora's head turns so that he's facing Naminé. She can make out one of his big, blue eyes, almost completely hidden under the mass of spiky brown hair.

At first, Naminé feels a bit nervous. Should she not have said that? Yes, of course, Sora is cute, but she didn't have to let him know that she thinks that about him! Oh, why did she have to be honest? Why did she have to speak her mind? He probably feels awkward around her now because she said that…

But, all worries fade away when she _ever so slightly_ sees a small smile on Sora's face. Of course, his arms hide most of the smile, but that one little hint is all it takes for Naminé to melt on the inside. She's never felt so relieved. She's also realizing how she tends to go on about Sora's smile; it's almost annoying, thinking about it so often. But she can't help it; he smiles so much and they are so _very _noticeable.

Their little 'moment' is interrupted when the bell signaling the end of class rings.

"What class do you have next, Naminé?" Kairi asks the blonde politely. Normally, Sora would have asked before Kairi, but he's still in a slight comatose state because of his prior embarrassment.

"Umm… biology with Mr. Vexen?" Naminé says it like a question, just because the name reminds her of one of Santa's reindeer. But what was the actual name…?

"_Lets see… there's Dancer, Dasher, Comet, Donner…" _Naminé begins mentally listing the names of the reindeer in her head.

Kairi laughs, one of many that's been heard today. "Oh, that quack! He's so easy to provoke. He's always more or less in a bad mood, just because he's wanted the position for chemistry sooo badly for years! And…" Kairi continues to ramble as Naminé continues her little quest for finding out the name of that reindeer.

"_Prancer, Cupid, Blitzen, and… there's one more! Ugh… what is it?"_

"Naminé?" Kairi waves her hand in front of the blonde's trance-like face. "Are you even listening? You don't have to be worried—"

"Vixen!" Naminé shouts out loud triumphantly, completely interrupting Kairi.

Phew. That was a close one. If she didn't figure it out, it would have bothered her all day. This, if anything, shows Naminé's slight tendency to be a perfectionist. But it's actually kind of a good thing; it's one of the reasons why her works of art are so… well, darn near perfect.

"What now?" Kairi asks, giggling. Naminé's outburst causes Sora to break out of his vegetable-like state and stare at her in confusion, along with Kairi.

"O-oh…" Naminé stares at her feet, nervously playing with her hair. "N-nothing."

Sora and Kairi exchange confused glances. They shrug to each other and turn their attention back to the shy blonde.

Well, this sucks. She feels completely stupid now. She's not normally one to randomly blurt out things that make no sense. She's been acting uncharacteristically talkative lately… maybe her growing confidence has something to do with it.

"Sorry, Kairi. I wasn't paying attention. What were you saying?" Naminé looks up, feeling slightly self-conscious.

Kairi smiles warmly at the girl. Despite the weird and random outburst, she finds herself becoming fond of Naminé already. "I was just saying how Sora and I both have biology next, too. And so does our friend Riku, so you'll be able to meet him!"

Naminé smiles, already feeling better. "O-oh. That's great!"

Kairi nods, happy that Naminé seems to be opening up. She looks up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, man! We better get going!"

So, they begin walking to the science wing. Their walk is filled with comfortable silence until Sora _finally_ starts partaking in conversation again.

"Wait, how do you know Riku has bio next?"

"'Cause, I had history with him this morning." Kairi yawns at the thought. "Big yawn. History is _the_ worst class to have in the morning. Mr. Zexion carries this big stupid book around everywhere, and his monotone voice is _so_ annoying. He hardly even talks to the class, but when he does... wow."

"Done complaining yet?" Sora smirks, playfully teasing his friend.

"Not even close!" Kairi retorts back, yelling so loud that the sound nearly echoes off the walls. "It's his first year here, and he looks _way_ too young to be teaching us. I'm seriously doubting his credentials." Kairi nods vehemently, pouting a bit.

Naminé laughs easily at Kairi's intense opinion of the teacher. She's starting to wonder if Sora's accusation of her 'problem' with exaggeration is actually true. "Is there anything about him you _do_ like?" Naminé asks the redhead.

"No! Everything about him just _irks_ me! I am _irked _by his existence. Even his stupid, flippy hair is annoying. Seriously, the only guy who can even dream of pulling off the 'hair covering the eyes' look is Riku."

"Aww, not even me, Kai?" Sora asks genially, swinging his hands up behind his head. Naminé internally laughs at how cute he is, just because he's asking the question.

Actually, that's not completely true. She's not laughing; she's _giggling_. Over his cute-ness, no less.

The realization kind of makes her a bit scared. Frequently admitting that her newest guy-friend is 'cute' is probably not the best idea, even if it's to herself. _Must _she keep reminding herself? They more or less _just_ met, after all.

Kairi gives Sora's face a quick once-over. "Yes, Sora, I suppose. But you don't have nearly as much hair in front of your face as Riku does. Be happy with the hair you have, no matter how wild and gravity-defying it may be."

Kairi shifts over to Naminé, whispering, "He must go through hair-gel like _crazy_…" Naminé laughs lightly, covering her smile with a free hand.

"Hey! I heard that! And for your information, it's completely natural!"

"Sure it is, Sora. Sure it is," Kairi goads Sora even further.

In truth, most of Sora's friends know that Sora's hair _is_ naturally like that. It's strange to think about it being natural, but it wouldn't be so soft and bouncy if he actually used that much hair gel. Kairi just enjoys poking fun at him for it, just because that's what best friends do. Constant teasing is a part of Sora and Kairi's daily schedule for each other. Naminé is just a silent observer in their playful banter.

"Kairi, I'd like to see you try and pull this look off." Sora chuckles, in a much better mood than he can remember being in for a _long_ time. It probably has something to do with being able to see his friends for the whole day. He's especially happy because of the new additional friend (whom he's grown _very _fond of, he might add).

"Sora, in all seriousness, I bet you don't even run a brush through your hair when you get up. You just roll out of bed, maybe shake your head a bit, and it magically looks good. Be thankful that you can somehow make that porcupine-like hair of yours work for you." Kairi playfully sticks her tongue out at Sora.

"Actually, this is an improvement compared to what I have to wake up to. It's like my hair doesn't even _want_ to be hair; it wants to be something cooler… like a dragon!" Sora gestures wildly with his hands.

Naminé laughs at his hand gestures and random dragon comment. Where the heck did he come up with that one?

Noticing her bell-like laughter, Sora glances at Naminé and immediately breaks into a soft smile when he realizes that she's laughing at _his_ joke. The fact that he can make her laugh so easily just makes him feel… great, to say the least.

One self-esteem boost for Sora, coming up.

"A dragon, huh? Your hair sure dreams big!" Kairi pokes fun at Sora for the last time in a while, because they're finally approaching Mr. Vexen's room.

"Yeah…" Sora laughs lightly, touching one of the spikes that's standing almost completely straight up. "This one's the most troublesome…" he grumbles, but in a good-natured way.

Naminé laughs (once again) at his joke, and Sora (once again) feels a confidence boost coming on. It's so hard not to notice, the way he feels when she laughs. The way she shyly covers her mouth with her hand, the way her soft laughter reverberates through his eardrums… he doesn't understand why he loves it so much. He just _does_.

But, one thing's for sure. Just the sound of her laughter is enough to completely divert his attention, and that's something.

-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**

~_`.:__You are _so_ **s**_**_p__e__c__i__a_**_**l**  
I hope that this makes you __smile  
'Cause you __deserve__ e__v__e__r__y__ grin that you get  
And you'll get 'em _a__lot_ from me__ :._~`

* * *

Hehe... so. Lots of stuff here. Some funny, some serious. Did anyone notice the reference to the game with Demyx's "line"? xD I thought it was kinda funny... Ooh. I bet some of you wanna kill me... first of all, I know some may not think Demyx should be a high school student, and Zexion shouldn't be a teacher, but it's just minor things. Besides, it's not impossible for someone who looks like they're in their twenties to be in high school. And it's not impossible for a new teacher to look too young. Sorry if it bothers you, but it's the way I think it'll work best.

Okay, so... don't be mad! I know what you're thinking -- Roxas/Sora/Naminé love triangles are _so_ over-done. Believe me, I know. Keep in mind what I said before; this is sort of like a "trial" chapter. I want **YOUR** input on what you think about how it's going so far before I continue. But, keep in mind: I know exactly what I want to do from this point, and it'll be different from all of the Roxas/Naminé/Sora love-triangle stories (that I've read, anyway) thus far. There will be several different layers of conflict, both internal and external. Oh, it'll be different, trust me. If you're reading my other story, then you know that when I say "different", I mean it. At least, I'm pretty confident in that fact.

Ooh... one thing I _definitely_ wanna know: how am I doing with characterization so far? Oh geez... I don't want so sound like I'm _demanding _reviews or anything. That's far from it. I mean, of course you don't have to review, but I care about your opinion **a _lot_**. It's almost stupid, how much I care xD. I just wanna know stuff! Like, if you **laughed** _at all_ during this chapter, let me know! If you think this chapter **blows**, let me know! I wanna know everything; I'm nosy like that. x]

So yeah. You get the idea. ^_^


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